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Why You Shouldn’t Use Google Chrome

Before we start, I have a confession to make. I was a Chrome user. As part of my job, I open and close Firefox a lot and it was simply easier to use a browser other than Firefox for my day to day browsing. After what Google has done recently, though, I have no interest in supporting them by using their browser. Here’s why.

This wouldn’t be that big of a deal, except for the fact the Chrome Web Store is almost as bad as the Apple App Store (maybe worse). Your extension can be taken down for any reason and you have no recourse when it is removed. You are not given a reason for the removal and you are not provided any way to talk to Google to discuss why your extension was removed. Your account can also be suspended without cause, even though you paid money to get that account. Again, you have no contacts with whom to discuss the situation.

Although I have had my issues with AMO in the past, I’ll never complain again. At least they provide a certain level of transparency, e-mail and even IRC communication. With Google, you have nothing.

Google has complete control over your extensions, and there is nothing you can do about it.

If you’ve ever wondered why you should care about Mozilla and Firefox and the Mozilla Marketplace and Firefox OS, this is why. Because in the end, the only way you can control your destiny is to be a part of it. And with Mozilla, you actually have a chance to be a part of it.

So going forward, I will only use Chrome to work on extensions I have already developed and to test websites. And Kaply Consulting will not be developing extensions for Google Chrome.

72 thoughts on “Why You Shouldn’t Use Google Chrome”

I love that line, “the only way you can control your destiny is to be a part of it.” That’s why I’ve been working for Mozilla for the last 12+ years.

Mike, Firefox add-ons users often suffer from some of the same issues that Google is attempting to address with that store lockdown. How do you propose that add-on developers “be a part of it” helping ensure that even add-ons hosted away from AMO have the same quality that we get when we apply reviews and developer expertise within AMO?

If I think back about the last year or so of the AMO team outreach and just leak fixing work with developers of add-ons hosted at AMO and I then consider all the add-ons outside of AMO that go un-fixed because they don’t have the amazing AMO QA and developer expertise, it makes me worry quite a bit about Firefox users and the experiences they’re getting.

So how do we increase quality of add-ons that aren’t hosted at AMO so that they’re less of a danger to Firefox users? How can add-on authors contribute to that?

First we need to be clear on why Google did this. It had nothing to do with quality. They claimed it was all about malware.

Unfortunately because their extension identification model is horribly broke, so there’s really no way to block an extension. They can block a particular key, but all someone has to do is use Chrome to generate a new key, repackage and voilà you have a new version of your extension that Google isn’t blocking. By forcing people to put their apps on the store, you prevent this.

While Firefox malware developers could do this as well by continually changing the ID, I don’t think this is happening in practice (I could be wrong). I think Mozilla’s method of identifying add-ons is more reliable.

I do realize that some third party add-ons have some quality issues and I think we are doing the right thing by add-ons by reaching out to those add-on authors to get those problems fixed.

If their are third-party add-on developers that are simply unwilling to communicate or fix their issues, I think things like soft blocking could be a useful tool in those situations.

But I think the last thing we should do is turn AMO or the Mozilla Marketplace into a walled garden which is exactly what Google has done.

The best thing we can do for add-on developers are the things we are doing. Fix things in Firefox where we can. Provide better tools to help developers find problems. Document best practices.

That last one is where we could really improve. One add-on developer copies another and we end up with bad code everywhere. Sometimes they even copy code from Firefox and find out it was doing the wrong thing.

So to summarize, I think we’re doing a great job. Reports from the field are that leaks are way down. So we need to just keep doing what we are doing.

To see the Mozilla way of handling bad extensions, take a look at bug 721264. Blacklisting is still not out of the question, but the differences between “the Mozilla way” OT1H, and “the new Google way” (and “the Apple way”) OTOH, looks edifying to me.

Mike, you are indeed wrong. Issue reports that I get from Adblock Plus users sometimes contain a list of installed extensions. I was able to identify several malicious extensions in that data – they have always the same name but different (randomly generated) IDs. I filed a bug with these findings but sadly there is nothing Mozilla can do about it. Any adjustment in the browser can be easily counteracted by the malware developers.

You are obviously very knowledgable. I was tempted to use Chrome instead of Foxfire because I can not get Flashplayer to intall on Foxfire. I use Win 7 64 bit. I even downloaded a 32 bit version of Foxfire as a suggested fix. NOTHING seems to fix this problem. I believe it is a common one. Any suggestions?

how about introducing a “registered external addon” tier, one that is not reviewed and not guaranteed to be safe or anything, but it still goes through AMO (some httpS redirect) so that mozilla can keep a track of all the external addons, have statistics and contact information for addon authors.

*after* that is implemented, a second step might be by default only allowing addon installs from AMO (either reviewed OR external).

and eventually, seriously malicious addons could be blacklisted, but i think the bar here must be above simple privacy concern like tracking — only blocking addons that explicitly steal bank accounts and similarly heavy stuff.

It’s an attractive suggestion, but it turns out something like this way already tried, and it actually made things worse, counter-intuitively. Here’s why…

There is a big benefit for an add-on author in putting their add-on on AMO: visibility. But they have to jump through the hoops of reviews. By adding this middle tier of unreviewed add-ons, add-on authors can get visibility without jumping through the reviews hoop. So some add-on authors moved their add-ons from the top (reviewed) tier to the middle tier because it was easier for them, but it resulted in lower-quality add-ons for users. Unintended consequences!

they don’t have to be listed. in fact, they don’t even need to have a “public page”, only a private “manage page” for authors.

so the addon would be advertised on the author’s site, but the link to install it would point to https://a.m.o/external/addon@id which would simply collect stats and redirect to (or deliver some other way) the actual addon.

Not true at all…. Especially now. Firefox loads 10x faster, no problem with ad-ons. I used to ADORE Chrome the best. Now it seems Chrome is getting worse. I now use the browser I used to hate, but this is a lot faster, more stable in speed, quality, extensions and security handsdown.

No idea why the Linux version isn’t on AMO, but the author claims it’s for “technical reasons”. In such situations Linux users could loose out with a lock down. Even if this particular problem could get resolved, I have a feeling there’ll always be some valid reasons for people hosting their Add-ons elsewhere (like maybe companies having an addon for internal use only).

I just want to know if there is any reason I can not safely delete all google stuff. I am not a computer whiz, just a novice simple user who used to be the go-to person for computer problems at work, back when I was gainfully employed. But that was on the programs that the company used, not all the internet things. I do not like the fact that google uses your info, etc. I’m writing to you because you seem to know a lot about it. (And what is AMO?) I have Firefox and IE, too.

I sent an email internally with the core of your post hoping to bring some of your points to the attention of our web store folks. Personally I think the balance of “allow easy install from a curated store, allow more difficult install from anywhere else” may be OK — I’m not as offended by that as you are. But it seems like you’re describing a store that does a poor job of communicating with developers, and especially for people who pay for an account, that doesn’t seem good to me.

As some of the comments here highlight, malware is a tough problem, and one that I know AMO has struggled with too. I don’t know if all the problems have easy answers. I do know that, like you, I want to be a part of shaping the web to come in a way that I can feel good about, so I hope I can help highlight some of this stuff to more folks at Google so they can deal with it.

Thanks, Peter, I appreciate it. My biggest concern is extensions being removed from the store with no communication to the owner of the extension. My clients have experienced this first hand.

As far as making it more difficult to install from other places, I’m even OK with some of that. But drag and drop to the extension page is just a poor choice. I think Firefox does a good balance of letting you know that you’re downloading from a website and requiring an extra confirmation. But local add-ons (on the file system) install without a problem.

I think what this policy is going to do is push extension developers to use executables to install extensions will make things even worse.

I know we were coming from a model much like you describe, and lots of users happily installed malware and OKed the confirmation prompts. As a UI engineer, my bias is that prompting users is pretty much always the wrong solution. They will never read the prompt and always click whatever makes the prompt go away. It annoys people and serves no useful purpose. Sad, but true.

I got some feedback from the store folks, but I don’t feel able to share it publicly. I can at least say that the people who matter have seen what you’ve written and do want to make the store policies and processes as good as they can be. Sorry for the non-detail of that comment :/.

> They will never read the prompt and always click whatever makes the prompt go away.

While that may be true for a large number of people, it’s certainly not true for all.

I agree with the goal to make the software work nicely and for everybody, but that must never result in an ignorant (may I say moronic?) part of the population pushing things to a point where functions that are important for other, more mindful/literate users are removed. In other words, AOL users must not make the work of scientists harder.

And this function is not just important, it’s critical for the whole ecosystem. The ability to run the software *I* choose (not somebody else chooses for me) is an fundamental cornerstone for freedom in the computing age. In fact, all of open source is useless, if only Apple (or Microsoft or Google or Mozilla) decides what I can easily install. As it happens, Apple flat out forbids GPL software in their store, from what I know. Whether it’s UEFI Secure Boot or that an App Store is the only practical way to install, the end result is that my freedom is gone.

Not with me. We need to find better solutions. If we don’t have the dialog box, then it’s the dialog box, but a global gatekeeper isn’t a solution, it’s a huge threat.

I really wish Mozilla would start marketing the fact that the AMO team has been working like mad to improve the quality of addons hosted there. You guys can’t expect the whole world to know what’s going on under the hood and I think you’ve really left yourself open to unwarranted criticism because of it. MANY users assume that it’s a free-for-all at AMO. I’ve had MANY conversations over the last year where I’ve had to point out how many steps public addons have to go through to assure people they are safe. And I only know about these processes because I’m an author… I suspect the vast majority of even the diehard Firefox community have absolutely no clue how much work AMO has put into quality, speed, and performance testing addons… malware checks and line-by-line code reviews. It’s a ton of energy that is IMO basically wasted because no-body knows about it.

Tell people about the testing. Tell people about review process. Tell people they should use Public addons hosted on AMO. And it wouldn’t hurt to just flat-out block global extensions either IMO.

Few months ago I opened Firefox and used it for 2 days because my friends PC had no Chrome. DO you have any idea how this feels to a V8 Chromer? Its like Time and Space slowed down and expanded. Sooooo slow and impotent browsing, so many tabs, spyware and virus attacks… I was horrified. How did I ever use Firefox? As a Chromer I have no idea what internet ads and spyware/malware is.

Firefox is Volvo, Chrome is Ferrari. Extensions are lard, I prefer speed, safety and stability.

This is what I have to say…I just got DSL; my computer was sitting for over a year; I updated to Google Chrome and was not happy with the way things were working (or still are not working); I tried to contact Google at the number offered on their website for help at 10:30AM; at 1:30PM I was still waiting when the call dropped. Again I tried; after an hour and a half someone came on; I asked my number be taken, he refused and sent me to someone for help (that is what he said he was doing); automated information relayed Google no longer supports customer service. Who conducts business like this? How do I get Google Chrome off my computer?

Do you blokes ever do anything “human”, you seem to like technology for its own sake. I think you’d be disappointed if it all worked properly because your lives would end! Not once in this series of comments has anyone complained that a normal activity enjoyed by a normal life loving human couldn’t happen because of Chrome. Stop being virtual and join us in reality.

A big Thumbs Up if you are reading this article in March / April 2013. Chrome is now worst browser. It crashes 5-10 times a day, and it has a starting trouble for each and every site. A site doesn’t start loading untill 10 seconds at least after you enter url and press enter.

The problem with the article is many point you have made are just wrong.

The first is paid for an account. Seriously to get completely free hosting and a $5 dollar signup fee is hardly a paid account.

You didn’t mention that there is an option to host your extension on your own domain. You need to verify a domain with Google and then you can not only host your .crx but if you configure the autoupdate in the manifest chrome will automatically update the extension also from your domain. For an example of this working see http://mightytext.net/install# and click onthe link “Install MightyText Chrome Extension”. Of course this extension can only be installed from the mightytext.net verified domain.

What Google have disabled is the ability of of any Tom Dick and Harry to silently install an extension without user interaction or information. That should be applauded instead of frowned upon.

I have no problem with people pointing out reasons why Firefox is better than Chrome or Chrome better than Firefox. However the premise is fundamentally flawed.

You are incorrect. You cannot host the extension on your own domain. That link to install mighty text installs it from the store. It’s called “inline install.”

The only way to host a CRX on your own domain is to require a user to drag and drop that CRX to their extensions page.

And they have not disabled the ability of anyone to install extensions – they’ve made it so extensions can only be installed from their store. They now suffer from the same problem as Apple in that they get to choose the things that want people to install on Chrome. It’s called a “walled garden” and it’s wrong.

Its not just Chrome you should be avoiding.
I have been an android owner for several years, and love(d) it. Up until i was stupid enough to sign up for a G+ account. On setting it up, one of the first things it asks, is if you want it to automatically upload photos from your phone. “No” (queue stuffing around for a while, and logging out) – Next thing you know, 250 photos automatically uploaded. And that was just the start of it.
And what were the most common responses from the G+ help “Community”? – “Its not G+, you just dont know what youre doing. Go back to Facebook” – “Have you turned automatic uploads off on _ALL_ your devices?” (Only 1 device ever HAD G+) “Have you turned it off on your desktop?” (Apparently saying NO on your phone, means that your computer can override this at will now) When it all boiled down to it, not a single person would admit, that G+ has a single solitary bug or fault, it was all my fault, and that im just stupid because im from Facebook.
And then there was the kool aid party that was getting involved in the site itself. Massively inflated egos. Holier than thou attitudes. Constant whining about how Facebook users are always whining about G+ users (I have NEVER seen a SINGLE mention of G+ from anyone on FB. No one gives a shit) ALMOST EVERY SINGLE POST, degenerating, into Republicans Vs Democrats, OR Google+ Vs Facebook, OR Android Vs iPhone, OR Samsung Vs HTC debate, no matter how unrelated to the original post these comments are.
Constant anti Facebook propaganda, constant gaming of the “Trending” system by 13 year old Justin Bieber and One Direction fans who have worked out that its totes fun to spam the same goddamn hashtag 50 times in a post, and getting 50 of their mates to spam the same message, puts their particular talentless idol on top of the trending.
Go to the trend list. Click on something. Anything. Youll immediately find the same 4 or 5 identical posts, reposted dozens and dozens of times. Not unique in any way. Completely identical. Every single person re-sharing these posts believing that they are the first person to post it.
Slap on top of that the genuine delusion that the real hardcore plussers (about 98% of the user base…. the other 2% being people like me that logged on a few times and picked it for the crap that it is) have, that they are somehow intellectually and morally superior to anyone else on the internet. Seriously, go and read a few posts. Any 15 year old with a keyboard suddenly knows how to save the world, despite the fact that a good portion of them would fail a grade six basic english exam (not to mention science)
So then we come to deleting the account. And quickly finding that if i want to say… rate the nagware ive just downloaded from the playstore, i need to create a G+ account. To remove myself from community mailing lists (which im still apparently subscribed to, despite not having a G+ account) I have to create a new account, to delete myself from the communities, so i dont get spammed hundreds of times a day by G+s unfilterable constant emails.
All of this resulted in me praying hard, that ubuntu hurries the hell up and gets their mobile platform running. Ive seen where google is headed, and i dont like it. G+ has turned me from a stoic Android fan, to someone who has made the firm decision, that if a reasonable alternative mobile platform comes along, might actually have to buy *gasp* an iPhone. Just for the sole fact, that i wouldnt have to deal with this BULLSHIT that hangs around Google. Im over it and i want it to stop.

Firefox isn’t better than Chrome for extensions. With a 6 week cycle with Firefox developers can’t keep up with their extensions. If you use ESR for firefox you will have some security issues. If you use the current rapid release then you some of your extensions may break.

I agree with you Crazycanuckz. Chrome has a lot of good extensions than firefox but that’s only on the first sight and I used to love chrome before but if you’re a privacy and security concern you will love firefox one day and I feel the same way as you before. The only problem with firefox is google is better on streaming but still I prefer firefox because I can use sandbox with no problems. if you like to stream I suggest opera.

The Chrome APIs provided to extensions developers are horribly limited; users complain about the poor quality of the extensions because of this; it’s hard to tell them it’s Google’s fault without sounding like you’re making excuses.

I doubt the situation will change, Google don’t like making their APIs too powerful, for risk that it might lead to apps that might actually be a real competitive threat. Plus they’ll pull APIs at a moments notice if they see a threat, and then replicate the ideas.

Great discussion. I remember exactly when this started happening and it was a headache every time I went to install a new extension. But in the end I still use Chrome because it’s fast. Although Firefox has been working nicely lately. Also I can’t live without my firebug and other developer tools on Firefox…I use both!

I’ve been using IE since version 5. Still using IE9 to type this (would be on IE10 but a an online database I use doesn’t display correctly, which isn’t IE’s fault). I’ve tried FF and Chrome. They open in the exact same time as IE. Half a second difference at worst(I used a stopwatch). Now I dont’t do a whole lot so maybe I don’t use extensions other than Java, but I’ve never had a reason to switch to another browser. Not to mention I can’t block Chrome from installing on my public machine so I’m always uninstalling it. I generally just surf the web and IE works quick enough for me and I don’t get viruses or malware.

I haven’t read any of the thread of comments, but I need to agree, Chrome for sure is not suitable at enterprise level.

If you use it, do so AT YOUR PERIL.

I’ve just had customers affected by issues caused by the introduction of version 29 that were not present in version 28. The customers were irate at the website for having issues where the download link has stopped working!

It’s amazing that this update can be forced on you and there’s no way to stop it unless you make changes to the group policy.

I agree ! Chrome kills OS and hardware on resources so i don’t use but some chrome based browsers are snappy and way better in terms of user privacy and speed. But now google has blocked extensions for those browsers forcing google chrome instead ! As i don’t like browser to install onto my OS i use google chrome portable just for extensions download but portable also wont start ! This is very nasty ! We should campaign anti google petition and hurt google ! MS would not listen to user about their metro GUI in Win 8 and see now what has happen. The same should happen to google ! But developers of chrome extensions are to claim as they post and link to extension to google web store. Who says that they can not post it else where ? On some open source platform like sourceforge and similar ? Google is not owner of extension so they do not have any right to do so !

But Google are Mozilla’s biggest benefactor. Much dumbing down and piling on of features into the light and sleek browser (hahahaha, how things change) I feel are due to pressure from Google. Perhaps other internet companies too who want the browser to be an application deliver platform rather than an information browsing program.

Web-apps, with industry behind them, are this generation’s proprietary programs. Having a proprietary word processor on a proprietary OS using proprietary file formats is tricky enough for the user wanting interoperability or good-value computing, but when the user’s program and data is not even on their computer the scope for lock-in is even greater. And once locked in the prices can be jacked up and quality of the service culled, etc.

Many features of FF now should be extensions, but oh-no. For example I have to have a feature that can automate my computer telling websites where I am! No thanks, if I want to let a site know I want to have to key in the data. (Well, actually I don’t have that feature. There are some geolocation files in the FF install directory. Delete them and geolocation cannot work. But WTF am I having to resort to that for? Because Mozilla do not give users control over features that industry stand to find more useful than the users).

No, I wouldn’t touch Chrome. The world’s biggest advertising company expects me to trust their product? Hahahaha, no way. FF is the least worst browser currently, and it is the addons that make it (though I have more addons to remove or reign in features or undo stupid design changes than anything).

I don’t know about the extensions but I used to love chrome because it uploaded fast but lately I ended up hating it, choppy scrolling, I thought it was my mouse that was giving me problems, my son thought it was my computer, but firefox and other browsers work fine, they also changed the scroll bar it’s too thin and very light grey I can hardly see it. I couldn’t find a fix so I ended up uninstalling it, the hell with chrome, surfing had become so stressful.

Google chrome has somehow found my PC. I didn’t download it. It doesn’t appear in the software list MAX Uninstaller shows as available for removal, nor is it in the list of programs. Yet, google chrome screens keep appearing in the lower right side of my PC. I remove one & three pop up. I’ve run virus & malware scans; nothing gets rid of this curse.

Users who install browser onto their OS are DUMB and DUMBER !!! Majority of these are not aware of danger doing that ! Microsoft is not protecting OS from being altered from opened web site adding modifying registry activex and other scripts working behind users back not aware of it allowing all sorts of nasty things even cripple OS to point of NO RETURN !!! Also eMail client are not to be used for well known reasons !!! Microsoft inventing METRO GUI but USER and OS is not protected !!! I’m pretty pissed of and angry ! Developer of browsers do not provide isolated portable versions of their browsers instead this is done by third party that who knows what add additional code to it ! Why ???

Chrome is horrible. The shape of the tabs is horrible, and looks like an old outdated browser, such as IE (Internet Explorer). The Firefox design is more modern and more sleek. Liking Chrome more than Firefox is the equivalent of saying you like Fiat more than Ferrari.

GOOGLE CHROME IS HORRIBLE, AND ALL GOOGLE PRODUCTS LIKE DOCS ARE THE SAME.

I started using Chrome because it used far less power, and supported facebook games, as well as being a addition to Netflix. Since it now does neither im deleting it and going back to internet explorer. I would not invest in a business that cripples its customer base.

Now it makes sense! During the 90 or so minutes (or so it seems) that Chrome takes to FINALLY populate its screen, an extension was automatically removed (you tube downloader or some such thing). As far as I can go w/my limited knowledge I tried to replicate the process – no dosh.

More and more people tell me to delete GC. The only reason I use it is because Safari went wonky one day when something turned my screen translucent and it was impossible to see characters or images (no big deal, right?!).

I’m now going to delete GC. I understand this means taking time to isolate the fragments of GC that remain embedded, like terrorist cells – this sentence is no *NOT* a joke, for that’s what it’s come down to.

On Android, clearing your downloads list deletes all your files. Think of how stupid that behavior is. On android – I recommend everybody stay away from firefox. I unknowingly deleted like 500+ files this way. Two years later, this idiotic feature is still there, without even a warning or description.

Hi there, I very much used Chrome in the same way as you did. After a crash I did not reinstall Chrome immediately and just tried to find that I am not able anymore to choose where I want to instal the browser, except for using what is called a junction, which does not sound straight forward. Reading your explanation, thank you for that, I can see the gross arrogance of Google dictating what I have to do.
The larger the companies become the more stalinist their attitude. I will not use Chrome anymore, there are luckily still quite a number of alternatives available. Best

“with Google Chrome 21, you can no longer install extensions from a location other than the Chrome Web Store. (Well you can, but it requires downloading them, opening the Extensions page and then dragging and dropping the CRX file onto that page – a usability and accessibility nightmare.)”

you are joking right? after downloading, this takes under a minute to do

O yes since NSA scandal and very nasty online 0day digital practice internet is becoming real threat to real people so i use internet only for crap amusement not for serious work !!! Its sad to see that online exploits are in favor for to those in power positions ! So we do not use internet is the best solution and one can live without additional stress !!!

I need to do something on another site, which requires a password. If this were Firefox, I would go to the site and my stored password would auto-fill, no problem. I would even see the auto-fill for screen name, which would remind me that this was the name I used. But it’s Chrome, and I think I had the bad experience of having the password stored on Chrome. Sure, I bookmarked it. Yes, I have “show the bookmarks bar” checked. But I have to sign in to use it? The problem with Chrome is that they want you to sign in for everything. Not even the illusion of privacy! I wouldn’t be using Chrome at all for this very reason, except that Firefox crashes when you keep the browser open for any length of time and/or have multiple tabs open. I noticed this about 2 years ago, using Firefox on my white Macbook. Then I moved to a PC, and Firefox is still freezing first, then crashing (while in use or during closing, either situation). I’ve filled out crash reports, left my email address for at least 8 months on those crash reports, described what I was doing at the time of crash, on each crash report for almost every report. Nothing changed. I tried safe mode, I tried disabling add-ons. No difference. I’ve lost faith in Firefox.

I can hardly get use to window 10 and then I started using Google to search but now I find if I use any other browser instead of google -chrome all I get is ads ads ads so I end up closing everything and go to Microsoft edge which I find better but not 100% ,I’m wondering if it’s in my settings somewhere because it happens a lot I am not a computer wizard and sometimes even understanding all the mumbo jumbo is hard for a dumbo so if someone out there can speak in what we all use to call English help me I would be a happy camper: